Case Study: NDIS support platform Kynd participates in AWS healthcare accelerator

Disability support platform Kynd received support from the AWS healthcare accelerator program, AWS Health Equity Initiative.

Digital Nation Australia spoke to Michael Metcalfe, founder of Kynd about the impact of the program on his organisation.

According to Metcalfe, the AWS program is helping the organisation to scale.

“It's looking at how can we accelerate what we are doing to impact more people around Australia, utilise the best of the technology and cloud tools out there to offer people and the modern consumer what they want. It will effectively help us to scale more quickly, reach more people and provide a far more modern solution to what is out there in the industry,” he said.

Kynd is a solution that helps NDIS participants and their families to connect with support workers and remove complexity from the admin process.

According to Metcalfe, “If someone is an NDIS participant or assisting them, typically a parent or a support coordinator, they're able to create a profile on Kynd. They're able to search and browse and post jobs in the area for the specific services that they're looking for from sole trader and independent support workers.”

The $40 million Health Equity Initiative is a three year commitment that AWS launched in September of last year, and according to Metcalfe, will provide support in the form of cloud credits and technical expertise.

“What [the program] allows us to do now is utilise that support and that advice to accelerate, introducing newer technologies and functionality. So from looking at machine learning and specific algorithms to match people together, and starting now to explore things with video, with audio, additional safety and, privacy through the platform,” said Metcalfe.

According to Iain Rouse, public sector Australia and New Zealand country director at AWS, the program is specifically designed to support underserved and underrepresented communities.

“Since its launch, the AWS Health Equity Initiative has supported a range of projects, including maternal health, telehealth, mental health, homelessness, transportation, and more. We recently announced the first recipients to receive support through the initiative, which included Kynd, an Australian business that connects people living with disabilities with support workers,” said Rouse.

“AWS’s Cloud and data technologies have enabled Kynd to create a solution to help people with disabilities to connect with support workers, and give them choice in accessing support that suits them. We’re proud to help Kynd expand and reach more people on the NDIS that are in need of their service across Australia.”